Art Impressions Wooden Door class

I have another Art Impressions Watercolour class coming up at the Crafter's Workshop in Stouffville, Ontario in a few weeks (October 16th & 19th you can sign up online here!), so I thought I'd share what we're going to be making.  We'll be doing two cards, both with "Wooden Door"- and the set is included in the class fee, so you get to take it home with you.  At first glance - this looks like a holiday stamp set, but we're going to see just how versatile these stamps are when you change them up a little, since we're going to do both a fall & winter/holiday version.  Here are the samples:

Our first card is following pretty much how the set was designed to be used - a wintery doorway, with a wreath and a covering of snow.

 For the fall version, we'll be using the same doorway, switching up the colour palette with some fall foliage, and a pot of flowers instead of the wood pile.  *We're going to be doing a third project, too - that will be a surprise.  Hope to see you at the Workshop - spots are filling up fast!

Dream - Colourific

Hello everyone!  It's my day to post on the Colourific blog, and I have a simple card using 3 different stamp sets to share:

 I started by die cutting a circle shape from a piece of scrap paper to create a mask, then I taped it down on my cardstock and created an ombre/sunset effect using three colours of Distress Oxide Inks (Wild Honey, Worn Lipstick & Candied Apple).  After removing the mask, I stamped the two flowers from the Moderne Flowers set, the leaves and butterfly from the Leaves stamp set, and added the Dream sentiment from Unicorns & Chasing Rainbows - all in Black Versafine ink.  I drew in the stems with a fine black marker.

I used my sewing machine to stitch the panel down to some black cardstock, and popped the whole piece up with some pop dots before adhering it to my patterned paper.  I added a few white sequins to finish it off.  You can find all of the stamp sets on the Colourific website here... or click on the stamp names above to go directly to them on the site.  Happy stamping!

Fairy Door Watercolour card

A few weeks ago I spent a whole afternoon painting and playing with the new Art Impressions Watercolour stamps.  I did a bookmark version of this tree made from the Fairy Door set, but wanted to do a larger image and use it on a card:

 I kept it pretty simple, using some Lawn Fawn patterned papers to pull out the colours from the image a bit.  I used my sewing machine to stitch my watercolour scene onto some warm brown cardstock, and popped it up on pop dots to when I adhered it to my card.

You're Claw-some

I have eyed this stamp set from Lawn Fawn for a long time... and finally splurged and got it this summer.  Like every kid, I always wanted to try this game at the PNE...you were always sure that you'd be able to pick up the cool stuffed animal.  And of course, you'd get a ring pop if you were lucky.  Here's You're Claw-some:

 I have once again, used my new favourite plaid from Doodlebug Designs "On the Farm".  I heat embossed the sentiment with some pearl embossing powder on black cardstock, then popped both it and the claw/unicorn up with some pop dots.

Sugar Pea Designs Mix It Up Challenge #47

I am a little obsessed with this plaid paper from Doodlebug Design's "On the Farm" pack... so you're about to see it a few times over the next while.  I wanted to play along with the September Mix It Up challenge on the Sugar Pea Designs blog, and was inspired by the cozy plaid blanket, the colours & the mugs in the current Inspired By photo.  I knew my new favourite plaid was going to work.  I am using the Mugs & Kisses stamp set for the first time, so I'm hoping that this works as a holiday/wintery card?  If not, it's bright & fun, which I love:

 I stamped the image in Rich Cocoa ink, and coloured it with Copic markers, then layered it over a tag that I had lightly blended some Wild Honey Distress Ink on to give it a warm glow.  I popped the sentiment up over the tag with some 3D adhesive.  *I am also entering this into the Sugar Pea Designs Stamptember contest on the Simon Says Stamp blog!

Here is the sketch I was working with:

And my plaid/colour/mug inspiration:

Sending Hedgehugs

Is anything cuter than a hedgehog card??  Probably not.  I made up a cute card this afternoon with the sweet Hedgehugs set from Lawn Fawn:

 I've used the wonderful Perfectly Plaid Rainbow and Watercolor Wishes patterned papers also from Lawn Fawn.

 The hedgies were coloured with Copic markers and layered over a stitched oval of white cardstock that I lightly blended some Broken China Distress Oxide ink on, with a little bit of green paper added as grass.

Pumpkin Spice

'Tis the season... so I had to pull out my Lawn Fawn Pumpkin Spice stamp set and make up a few cards.

 Papers are Flea Market by Doodlebug Designs, and Hello Autumn by Bella Blvd.

I have linked this up with the Lawn Fawn Stamptember giveway on the Simon Says Stamp blog!

I'm a Colourific Designer!

Very excited to share that I am now on the DT of a new stamp company out of the UK - Colourific!

The very talented Annelies Brown (owner/illustrator) has a wonderfully artsy style, and has put together a fabulous team of designers from around the world.  

For my first post, I am using the smaller unicorn image from Unicorns & Chasing Rainbows, along with sentiments from Unicorn Text:

I started creating my background by blending four colours of Distress Oxide Ink to provide a soft halo of colour.  Then I used my sewing machine to stitch around the panel before adhering it to the base. I've coloured the unicorn and flowers with Copic markers, and fussy cut them all out.

The unicorn and a couple of the smaller flowers are attached with pop dots for a little added dimension, and a few sequins provided some sparkle!

I used another one of the sentiments from Unicorn Text on the inside, along with the small flower spray:

We are just getting this party started over on the Colourific Stamps blog - be sure to visit regularly to see what our fabulous design team has to share.  You can also find Colourific on facebook here, and you'll want to join our Colourific Stamps Fan Group here, where you can share your creations as well.

Watercolour Bookmarks

I had an afternoon to play with some Art Impressions watercolour stamp sets this week... but even better, I played with some of the NEW Art Impressions watercolour stamp sets!!  The current challenge on the Ai blog is Tags/Bookmarks, and the ladies' work is very inspiring.  So far, I've painted five of them.  I may add some ribbon, or mount them on some cardstock, but I'm going to wait until I'm ready to give them away:

 This challenge has actually really inspired me - I loved painting these quick & easy projects, and I've decided that these are something that I'm going to include with my Christmas cards to co-workers (I work in a library - bookmarks?  Yup, a good fit!)

 Now these two are a direct CASE of the tag Tricia Kennedy posted on the Ai blog for the challenge post.  I really love the pink tree that she did, and it is not something that I would ever have thought of!  So I copied hers, and then did a traditional green tree version.  This is using the new WC Fairy Doors Set #5056.

These three are a brand new line from Art Impressions - Watercolour Bible Journaling sets!  They are designed to be long and lean (perfect for the edge of a Bible journal) but they are also perfectly designed for bookmarks.  So I am using My Fortress Set #5069; Living Water Set #5068 and Good Shepherd Set #5070.  They'll be available soon on the Art Impressions website - or you can check with your local stamp store.  *The great thing about Ai watercolour sets, is that they come with a full colour image on the packaging, and I usually start out by copying their example.